Veazie election outcome unchanged after ballot inspection

VEAZIE, Maine — Although about half a dozen write-in ballots were deemed improperly marked during a ballot inspection on Friday, the outcome of Veazie’s June 11 town council election remained the same.

The inspection was requested by former Town Councilor Jonathan Parker, who lost his seat in a three-way race for two council positions on June 11. The unofficial tally issued that night showed that the winners were Robert Rice — a write-in candidate who received the highest number of votes at 147 — and Karen Walker, who had 138 votes. Parker received 114 votes.

The entire process took about 15 minutes, according to Julie Strout, who is the town’s deputy clerk and registrar of voters.

Town Manager Mark Leonard said Wednesday that the ballot inspection was prompted by a write-in ballot that initially was deemed valid because the voter’s intent was clear. He said that the ballot later was determined not to be valid because while a name was properly written in the ballot space for write-ins, the dot in front of the line was not filled in. He said both steps are required.